DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Claims 1-9, 11-23 and 25-29 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over King et al (US 2011/0203901 A1), a.k.a., “King”, in view of King et al (US 2009/0159674 A1), a.k.a., “King ‘674”, further in view of Johnson, JR. et al (US 2009/0254438 A1) and further in view of Mitschele (US 7,874,482 B2).
Regarding Claim 1, King discloses
a single space parking meter (13) as mentioned at paragraph 28, comprising:
a first housing, i.e., cover panel (16) with intermediate panel set (15) as illustrated in figure 2 and as mentioned at paragraph 28;
a removable single space parking meter mechanism, i.e., module (32) as illustrated in figure 4, engageable with the
first housing (15, 16), as illustrated in figures 1-4, the removable single space parking meter mechanism (32)
comprising:
an internal structure, i.e., noting the mention in paragraph 33 that the module (32) includes electronic device (33), coin sensor (34) and coin validator (35);
a second housing, i.e., inclined surface (41), to be exposed to an external environment;
one or more input controls, i.e., buttons (24) as mentioned in paragraph 28 and as illustrated in figure 2, located on the second (first) housing as illustrated in figure 2;
a display, i.e., window (22) with viewing screen (23), as illustrated in figure 2 and as mentioned at paragraph 28.
Regarding Claim 1, King does not expressly teach
a second housing, to be exposed to an external environment, coupled to the internal structure;
one or more input controls located on the second housing; and
an antenna for a contactless payment reader in close proximity to
the display.
Regarding Claim 1, King does not expressly teach, but King ‘674 teaches
a second housing, i.e., the housing portion near card reader access opening (22), as illustrated in figure 1, 3, 6 and 7, for example, to be exposed to an external environment, coupled to the internal structure, i.e., parking meter device/mechanism (10) as illustrated in figure 1 and as mentioned in paragraphs 44 and 48, for example, noting the second housing is seen as being attached to the parking meter mechanism/device (10) as illustrated in figures 1 and 2 and noting that figures 3, 4, 6 and 7 show that the second housing portion is located on the external portion exposed to the environment and interfaces with the rest of external housing/cover portions (34, 36);
one or more input controls located on the second housing; and
an antenna, i.e., cellphone antenna (76), WIFI antenna (80) and GPS antenna (84) as illustrated in figure 8, and as mentioned at paragraph 50, for a contactless payment reader in close proximity to
the display (26), as illustrated in figures 1 and 8, for example.
Regarding Claim 1, before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided a second housing, to be exposed to an external environment, coupled to the internal structure, as taught by King ‘674, in King’s parking meter and parking meter mechanism for the purpose of ensuring that the payment slot is preserved with the parking meter mechanism when it is removed for maintenance, for example. Note also that King ‘674’s teaching merely provides further explanation and illustration of King’s illustration of the same second housing structure.
Regarding Claim 1, King does not expressly teach, but Johnson teaches an antenna, (104) as illustrated in figure 1, and as mentioned at paragraph 14, for a contactless payment reader, i.e., RFID payment terminal (100), with RFID transceiver (106) with RFID payment module (108), in close proximity to the display (102), in which the antenna (104) is embedded.
Regarding Claim 1, before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided an antenna for a contactless payment reader in close proximity to the display, as taught by Johnson, in King’s parking meter and parking meter mechanism for the purpose of providing additional payment means through contactless payment.
Regarding Claim 1, King does not expressly teach, but Mitschele teaches one or more input controls, i.e., stall selection buttons (36), as illustrated in figures 2 and 3, located on the second housing, i.e., interpreted as the payment slot and wireless smart card reader interface.
Note that it has been held that forming in one piece an article which has formerly been formed in two pieces and put together involves only routine skill in the art. See Howard v. Detroit Stove Works, 150 U.S. 164 (1893).
Regarding Claim 1, before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided one or more input controls located on the second housing, as taught by Mitschele, in King’s parking meter and parking meter mechanism as a matter of design choice for the purpose of ensuring that when the parking meter mechanism is removed, the external controls are carried with it so as to allow maintenance to be performed remotely as well as on site. Note also that Applicant provides no criticality as to the one or more input controls being located on the second housing. See, for example, Applicant’s paragraph 49, which merely describes the input controls (150), and Original Claim 1, noting that no criticality for the claimed features are discussed.
Thus, it would have been obvious to have placed one or more input controls on King’s second housing, noting that one of ordinary skill would have recognized to have adapted the second housing to accommodate any buttons/controls as needed.
Regarding Claim 2, King does not expressly teach wherein payment information is displayed when parking time is being purchased.
Regarding Claim 2, King does not expressly teach, but King ‘674 teaches wherein payment information is displayed when parking time is being purchased, as mentioned at paragraphs 17, 58 and 59, for example.
Regarding Claim 2, before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided wherein payment information is displayed when parking time is being purchased, as taught by King ‘674, in King’s parking meter and parking meter mechanism display for the purpose of imparting parking time and purchasing information as appropriate to enable a user to operate the parking meter.
Regarding Claim 3, King does not expressly teach wherein the payment information comprises payment indications, directions or instructions for payment using the contactless payment reader antenna.
Regarding Claim 3, King does not expressly teach, but Johnson teaches wherein the payment information comprises payment indications, directions or instructions for payment using the contactless payment reader antenna, as mentioned at paragraphs 14 and 25, which state as follows.
[0014] The subject matter described herein includes an RFID payment terminal with a display-embedded antenna. Rather than wrapping around the perimeter of a display in a payment terminal, the antenna may be embedded in a portion of the display used to display payment information to the user. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary RFID payment terminal with a display embedded antenna according to an embodiment of the subject matter described herein. Referring to FIG. 1, RFID payment terminal 100 includes a display 102 for graphically displaying payment information to a user. Display 102 may be any suitable graphical display, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) that may include a thin film transistor (TFT) material. An antenna 104 may be embedded in a portion of display 102 used to display the payment information to the user. Details of antenna 104 will be described below. An RFID transceiver 106 receives signals from antenna 104 and transmits signals to an RFID device via antenna 104. An RFID payment module 108 is coupled to the antenna and effects payment transactions based on signals received from RFID devices via the antenna. For example, RFID payment module 108 may receive transaction information, such as the account number and an identifier for an RFID device user. RFID payment module 108 may transmit this information to the RFID device issuer financial network along with the amount due for a particular transaction. The RFID device issuer network may validate the transaction using the information received from RFID payment module 108 and may send a message indicating that the transaction was successfully completed to RFID payment module 108. RFID payment module 108 may direct display 102 to display a message to the user indicating that the transaction was successfully completed.
[0025] In operation, display 102 may display a graphical indication of where the user should present his or her RFID payment device and to indicate different credit card logos corresponding to cards or RFID devices accepted for payment to the user. When the user brings his or her RFID payment device in the proximity of terminal 100, antenna 104 may read transaction information from the RFID payment device. Display 102 may then display to the user that the card was correctly read. The user may be prompted for additional information. Once payment terminal 100 receives all the information, payment terminal 100 effects the payment transaction in conjunction with the card issuer financial network as described above.
Emphasis provided.
Regarding Claim 3, before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided wherein the payment information comprises payment indications, directions or instructions for payment using the contactless payment reader antenna, as taught by Johnson, in King’s parking meter and parking meter mechanism display for the purpose of indicating to the user operation status of the parking meter.
Regarding Claim 4, King teaches further comprising additional payment
components comprising one or more of:
a card slot (20) in the second housing for receiving a payment card, as illustrated in figure 4; and
a coin slot (25) for receiving coins, as illustrated in figures 2 and 4 and as mentioned at paragraph 28, for example.
Regarding Claim 5, King does not expressly teach wherein the additional payment components are coupled or connected to the internal structure of the parking meter mechanism.
Regarding Claim 5, King does not expressly teach, but King ‘674 teaches wherein the additional payment components, i.e., card slot (22) and coin slot (18), are coupled or connected to the internal structure of the parking meter mechanism (10) as illustrated in figure 1 and as mentioned at paragraphs 45, 46 and 48.
Regarding Claim 6, King teaches wherein the input controls, i.e., buttons (24), as illustrated in figure 2, are adjacent to the display (22).
Regarding Claim 7, King does not expressly teach wherein the antenna for the
contactless payment reader is coupled to a contactless payment reader
comprising at least one of:
a Near-Field Communications (NFC) reader;
a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader; and
an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14443 reader.
Regarding Claim 7, King does not expressly teach, but Johnson teaches wherein the antenna (104) for the contactless payment reader (100) is coupled to a contactless payment reader comprising at least one of:
a Near-Field Communications (NFC) reader;
a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader, i.e., RFID transceiver (106) and RFID payment module (108), as illustrated in figure 1; and
an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14443 reader, as mentioned at paragraph 3, third sentence.
Regarding Claim 8, King teaches wherein the input controls (24) comprise a plurality of buttons, as illustrated in figure 2, for example.
Regarding Claim 9, King teaches wherein the input controls comprise:
a first button (24) for increasing an amount of time purchased, noting the upward pointed triangle above the left-most button in figure 2;
a second button (24) for decreasing the amount of time purchased, i.e., the second to the left-most button in figure 2;
a third button (24) for accepting an action, noting the right-most button with the word “ok” above it; and
a fourth button (24) for cancelling an action, noting the second to the rightmost button with the word “cancel” above it.
Regarding Claim 11, King does not expressly teach wherein the second housing is rigidly attached to the internal structure of the removable parking meter mechanism.
Regarding Claim 11, King does not expressly teach, but King ‘674 teaches wherein the second housing is rigidly attached to the internal structure of the removable parking meter mechanism (10) as illustrated in figures 1, 2 and 7, for example.
Regarding Claim 12, King does not expressly teach wherein the antenna for the contactless payment is connected to a contactless payment reader module providing the contactless payment reader via wires.
Regarding Claim 12, King does not expressly teach, but Johnson teaches wherein the antenna (104) for the contactless payment is connected to a contactless payment reader module, i.e., display (102) of RFID payment terminal (100), as illustrated in figure 1, providing the contactless payment reader via wires (300, 302, 306, 308) as illustrated in figure 3, and as mentioned at paragraph 18, mentioning the wires/conductors (300, 302, 306, 308) and pads (306) that connect to conductors/wires (308) connecting antenna (104) to antenna driver/transceiver (106). Note also that it would have also been obvious to have connected transceiver (106) to the payment module (108) and CPU (110) via conductor/wire as well, as this is a common device for transmitting electric signals.
Regarding Claim 13, King teaches wherein the second housing of the
parking meter mechanism and the first housing (15, 16) provide a protective housing for components and the internal structure of the parking meter mechanism, i.e., module (32), as illustrated in figure 2, comparing with figure 4, for example.
Regarding Claim 14, King teaches further comprising a solar panel (29)
mounted on the parking meter (13) and exposed through the first housing (15, 16), i.e., via window aperture (28), as mentioned at abstract, for example.
Regarding Claim 15, King teaches further comprising an auxiliary display, i.e., LED light (38) and color disk (39), as mentioned at paragraph 34 and as illustrated in figure 5 and wherein the auxiliary display displays additional information, i.e., whether or not the parking period is expired, and is exposed through the first housing (15, 16), i.e., via indicator (30), which is construed as a window embedded within the first housing (15, 16), as illustrated in figure 3 and as mentioned at paragraph 34.
Note also that King ‘674 teaches red LED (31) and green LED (33) as mentioned at paragraph 47 and flip dot (30) which shows through opening (42) between housing (34) and cover (36), as mentioned at paragraph 49.
Regarding Claim 16, see the rejection of Claim 15, above.
Regarding Claim 17, see the rejection of Claim 15, above.
Regarding Claim 18, see the rejection of Claim 1, above.
Regarding Claim 19, see the rejection of Claim 4, above.
Regarding Claim 20, see the rejection of Claim 6, above.
Regarding Claim 21, see the rejection of Claim 7, above.
Regarding Claim 22, see the rejection of Claim 8, above.
Regarding Claim 23, see the rejection of Claim 9, above.
Regarding Claim 25, see the rejection of Claim 11, above.
Regarding Claim 26, see the rejection of Claim 12, above.
Regarding Claim 27, see the rejection of Claim 14, above.
Regarding Claim 28, see the rejection of Claims 15-17, above.
Regarding Claim 29, see the rejection of Claims 15-17, above.
Claim(s) 10 and 24 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over King et al (US 2011/0203901 A1), a.k.a., “King”, in view of King et al (US 2009/0159674 A1), a.k.a., “King ‘674”, further in view of Johnson, JR. et al (US 2009/0254438 A1), further in view of Mitschele (US 7,874,482 B2) and further in view of Salter (US 2010/0060479 A1).
Regarding Claim(s) 10 and 24, King teaches the system as described above.
Regarding Claim 10, King does not expressly teach wherein the input controls comprise at least one type of switch selected from the group consisting of:
electromechanical switches;
piezoelectric switches; and
capacitive touch switches.
Regarding Claim 10, King does not expressly teach, but Salter teaches wherein the input controls, i.e., push buttons (116), as illustrated at figures 1 and 2, for example, and noting LCD display (110), comprise at least one type of switch selected from the group consisting of:
electromechanical switches, noting that the push buttons (116) are construed as at least being such switches;
piezoelectric switches; and
capacitive touch switches, as mentioned at paragraph 165, which states “[i]t is envisaged that the LCD display could have a touch-sensitive screen and the push buttons 116 integrated into the LCD display in known manner”.
Regarding Claim 10, before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided wherein the input controls comprise at least one type of switch selected from the group consisting of:
electromechanical switches;
piezoelectric switches; and
capacitive touch switches, as taught by Salter, in King’s parking meter and parking meter mechanism display for the purpose of employing a user interface enabling a customer to interact with the parking meter via common button features.
Regarding Claim 24, see the rejection of Claim 10, above.
Conclusion
Applicant is encouraged to contact the Examiner should there be any questions about this rejection or in an endeavor to explore potential amendments or potential allowable subject matter.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Johnson ‘594 is cited as the issued patent of Johnson ‘438 used in the rejections above.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY ALAN SHAPIRO whose telephone number is (571)272-6943. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday generally between 8:30AM and 6:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anita Y Coupe can be reached at 571-270-3614. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEFFREY A SHAPIRO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619
January 8, 2026